Factors That Affect The Rate Of Chemical Reactions Essay

Enzymes are biological catalysts, which means it decreases activation energy in reactions. The lower activation energy in a reaction, the faster the reaction rate. Many enzymes alter their shape when they bind to the activation site. This is called induced fit, meaning for the enzyme to work to its full potential it has to change shape to binding substrate. The location of enzyme’s activation site is on the surface of the enzyme, where the binding of substrates take place. Enzyme activity can be influenced by a variety of environmental factors. If the concentration of enzyme is low, and there is a great deal of substrate, then increasing enzyme concentration results in more molecules available to convert substrates to products. Thus, increasing enzyme concentration can increase reaction rate. If substrate concentrations are low, and many of the existing enzymes are idle because of a lack of substrate, then adding enzyme will have no effect on reaction rate. Enzyme concentration affects the enzyme activity, because the more enzyme concentration the faster the reaction rate, until it hits it’s limiting factor. When substrate concentration is increased, it also increases rate of reaction. Temperature plays an important

Enzyme catalysis is dependant upon factors such as concentration of enzyme and substrate, temperature and pH. These factors determine the rate of reaction, and an increase in temperature or pH above the optimum will

Enzymes are types of proteins that work as a substance to help speed up a chemical reaction (Madar & Windelspecht, 104). There are three factors that help enzyme activity increase in speed. The three factors that speed up the activity of enzymes are concentration, an increase in temperature, and a preferred pH environment. Whether or not the reaction continues to move forward is not up to the enzyme, instead the reaction is dependent on a reaction’s free energy. These enzymatic reactions have reactants referred to as substrates. Enzymes do much more than create substrates; enzymes actually work with the substrate in a reaction (Madar &Windelspecht, 106). For reactions in a cell it is

Enzymes are biological catalysts, which speed up the rate of reaction without being used up during the reaction, which take place in living organisms. They do this by lowering the activation energy. The activation energy is the energy needed to start the reaction.

Enzymes are defined as catalysts that speed up chemical reactions but remain the same themselves. The shape of an enzyme enables it to receive one type of molecule and that specific molecule will fit into the enzyme’s shape. Where a substance fits into an enzyme is called the active site and the substance that fits into the active site is called a substrate. Several factors affect enzymes and the rate of their reactions. Temperature, pH, enzyme concentration, substrate concentration, and the presence of any inhibitors or activators can all affect enzymes. Temperature can affect enzymes because if the temperature gets too high, it can cause the enzyme to denature. pH can affect an enzyme by changing the shape of the enzyme or the charge properties of the substrate so that either the substrate cannot bind to the active site or it cannot undergo catalysis. Every enzyme has an ideal pH that it will strive in. Increasing substrate concentration increases the rate of reaction because more substrate molecules will be interacting and colliding with enzyme molecules, so more product will be formed. Inhibitors can affect enzymes and the rate of their reactions by either slowing down or stopping catalysis. The three types of inhibitors include competitive, non-competitive, and substrate inhibition.

Living cells within our bodies perform an abundance of chemical reactions very speedily because of the participation of enzymes. Enzymes are biological catalysts that speed up a chemical reaction without being depleted or altered in the reaction (Garrette & Grisham, 1999). The

Enzymes have things called ‘Active Sites’ this the spot where substrates bind and chemical reaction takes place. Each enzyme has a different shape, this allows the enzyme to receive only one type of

Enzymes are a key aspect in our everyday life and are a key to sustaining life. They are biological catalysts that help speed up the rate of reactions. They do this by lowering the activation energy of chemical reactions (Biology Department, 2011).

Organisms cannot depend solely on spontaneous reactions for the production of materials because they occur slowly and are not responsive to the organism's needs (Martineau, Dean, et al, Laboratory Manual, 43). In order to speed up the reaction process, cells use enzymes as biological catalysts. Enzymes are able to speed up the reaction through lowering activation energy. Additionally, enzymes facilitate reactions without being consumed (manual,43). Each enzyme acts on a specific molecule or set of molecules referred to as the enzyme's substrate and the results of this reaction are called products (manual 43). As a result, enzymes promote a reaction so that substrates are converted into products on a faster pace (manual 43). Most enzymes are proteins whose structure is determined by its sequence of its amino acids. Enzymes are designed to function the best under physiological conditions of PH and temperature. Any change of these variables that change the conformation of the enzyme will destroy or enhance enzyme activity(manual, 43).

Each enzyme is very specific and can only catalyze a certain reaction. The specific reaction catalyzed by an enzyme depends on the molecular structure and shape of a small area of the enzyme’s surface called the active site. The active site an attract and hold only its specific molecules. The target molecule that the enzyme attracts and acts upon is called the substrate. The substrate and the active site of the molecule must fit together very closely. Sometimes the enzyme changes its shape slightly to bring about the necessary fit.

As an enzyme-catalyzed reaction may be the main reason for a reaction to occur faster, many factors can

generally act as a catalase that initially bring about a chemical reaction.” Enzymes play an

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Enzymes are proteins that act as catalysts and help reactions take place. In short, enzymes reduce the energy needed for a reaction to take place, permitting a reaction to take place more easily. Some enzymes are shape specific and reduce the energy for certain reactions. Enzymes have unique folds of the amino acid chain which result in specifically shaped active sites (Frankova Fry 2013). When substrates fit in the active site of an enzyme, then it is able to catalyze the reaction. Enzyme activity is affected by the concentrations of the enzymes and substrate present (Worthington 2010). As the incidence of enzyme increases, the rate of reaction increases. Additionally, as the incidence of substrate increases so does the rate of reaction.

There are three factors that will alter an enzyme: temperature, pH and salt. All three will change the structure of the enzyme by denaturation and rendering it useless when a drastic change occurs from levels that are normal. A slight alteration can speed up reaction to certain saturation or slow the process of reaction.